Brigadier VS Saini under scanner for $5 million bribe demand in chopper deal

Brigadier under scanner for $5 million bribe demand in chopper deal
Published: Friday, Oct 26, 2012, 19:16 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI
A brigadier is under the scanner for allegedly demanding bribe of $5 million from an Italian company in a helicopter deal, with the Defence Ministry today seeking details from the government there and assuring "strong action" against the culprits.
The allegations were levelled against the brigadier, who is currently posted at the Officers' Training Academy in Chennai, during an ongoing probe in Italy into the alleged involvement of Finmeccanica in paying kickbacks to secure defence deals including the Indian contract for 12 VVIP choppers.
Finmeccanica is the parent company of Agusta Westland and is under the scanner after a few arrests were made in Italy including personnel suspected to be the middlemen in the Indian contract.
"The Defence Ministry has asked the Italian government and concerned agencies through the External Affairs Ministry to provide the name and relevant documents relating to the alleged involvement of a brigadier in the ongoing process for the acquisition of 197 helicopters for the army.
"We will take strong action against offenders detected through this probe," Defence Ministry said in a release.
The allegation have been levelled against the officer in a letter allegedly sent by an Agusta Westland official in India to his superiors in Italy saying that the Brigadier was seeking $5 million for facilitating the deal in their favour. The letter was submitted by Italian prosecutors in a court there.
The ministry officials said the Italian government has been requested to provide details of the existence, if any, of any middlemen of any individual or Indian entity in the above contracts.
Agusta Westland has already won the Indian deal worth over Euro 560 million for supplying 12 AW101 VVIP choppers while its bid was rejected in the 197 choppers deal where Eurocopter and Russian Kamov are still in the race.
Brigadier under scanner for $5 million bribe demand in chopper deal
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Did Indian Brigadier demand bribe to swing copter deal for AgustaWestland? Probe documents say so
Comment: The name of Brigadier V.S. Saini, a serving Indian Army officer, has surfaced in a document that Italian investigators have found in the course of their probe into possible kickbacks or commissions paid by Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer Augusta Westland (AW). Earlier Brig VS Saini, was Brigadier Aviation, Northern Command and now posted in OTA, Chennai. Will General Deepak Kapoor (30 Sep 2007 to 30 Mar 2010) be linked to this deal? Brig VS Saini could not have pulled off such a scam without blessings of the Chief. CBI should investigate all sources of income of Gen Deepak Kapoor who is a master spinner (Adarsh/ Tatra Scam to his credit and many more).

OROP: Rajeev Chandrasekhar writes to PM

Honour the Commitment and Implement One Rank, One Pension for Armed Forces Veterans, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar - October 08, 2012

Letter to PM

PM Response
Rajeev Chandrasekhar Speech in Special Parliament Session
Speech by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, during special session of Parliament on 60th anniversary of Indian Parliament. On the occasion, Rajeev Chandrasekhar urged for introspection and credible action to regain the faith of people in Indian Parliament as an institution.

Rajat Gupta lands two-year jail for insider trading

Former Goldman Sachs chief Rajat Gupta lands two-year jail for insider trading
Published: Thursday, Oct 25, 2012, 2:37 IST
Place: Manhattan | Agency: PTI
Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was today sentenced to two years in prison and fined $5 million by a US judge, months after the Indian-American Wall Street titan was found guilty of leaking boardroom secrets to a hedge fund manager in the largest insider trading case in the country's history.
Gupta, 63, was handed down a two-year prison term by US district court judge Jed Rakoff, who also ordered him to pay a $5 million fine. Gupta, reading from a statement, said: "The last 18 months have been the most challenging period of my life since I lost my parents as a teenager."
"I regret terribly the impact of this matter on my family, my friends and the institutions that are dear to me. I've lost my reputation I built for a lifetime. The verdict was devastating," he said.
"His conduct has forever tarnished a once-sterling reputation that took years to cultivate," Manhattan's top federal attorney India-born Preet Bharara said.
Gupta was found guilty by a federal court in Manhattan on four counts, out of six on June 15 after a three-week trial for passing boardroom secrets to the now imprisoned billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam at the height of the global financial crisis. The prosecution had sought a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta who was convicted in a closely followed trial on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.
The sentencing of India Inc's Wall Street poster boy by US district judge Jed Rakoff comes exactly a year after Bharara filed insider trading charges against the former McKinsey head.
Gupta, the most high profile Wall Street executive to be convicted in the government's crackdown on insider trading, had sought leniency from the judge, citing his otherwise unblemished career and philanthropic works. In a memorandum filed in federal court last week, Gupta's lawyer Gary Naftalis had sought probation for his Harvard educated client, saying Gupta is willing to live in Rwanda and work with the local government on health care and agricultural initiatives.
The second offer of community service made by Naftalis was that Gupta could work with Covenant House's New York site, which provides emergency shelter and other services for homeless, runaway and at risk youth. Bharara had sought a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta, arguing that his "shocking" crimes were not an "isolated occurrence or a momentary lapse in judgement and a "significant term of imprisonment is necessary to reflect the seriousness of Gupta's crimes and to deter other corporate insiders in similar positions of trust from stealing corporate secrets and engaging in a crime that has become far too common".
The Diwali of 2011 saw Gupta surrender himself before the FBI after charges of insider trading were filed against him. The rise and fall of Gupta, who went from being one of the most successful India-born businessmen in the US to being called "deceptive and dishonest" after his conviction, has been the stuff of legends.
Gupta's rise through the ranks of Corporate America was stellar with enviable posts like board seats at Goldman Sachs and Procter and Gamble, co-founder of the prestigious Indian School of Business, adviser to the executive leadership of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as also the United Nations dotting his resume.
Gupta was also a director of the AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines. The Rockefeller Foundation appointed him a trustee; he was named special adviser on management reform to then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and additionally served on the UN Commission on the Private Sector and Development and was co-chairman of the United Nations Association of America.
Gupta had also been getting support from family members, prominent business leaders and global philanthropic figures including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who are among the 400 people who have written letters to Rakoff detailing Gupta's charitable work.
Gupta had pleaded not guilty to the charges and argued during his trial that he personally did not trade nor made any profits from the insider information he was accused of passing on to Rajaratnam, who is currently serving an 11 year prison term after being convicted last year.
After the guilty verdict was announced in June against Gupta, Bharara had said Gupta achieved remarkable success and stature, but he threw it all away. "Rajat Gupta once stood at the apex of the international business community. He stands convicted of securities fraud. Having fallen from respected insider to convicted inside trader, Gupta has now exchanged the lofty board room for the prospect of a lowly jail cell," Bharara had said.
Rajat Gupta lands two-year jail for insider trading
Lessons for India: Justice should be swift for high profile scamsters in India. Hundreds of cases in the courts languishing for decades. Trials delayed by Political Criminals.